Hair curler



March 18, 1952 E. RATNER ET AL 2,589,510

HAIR CURLER Filed March 10, 1950 INVENTORS EDITH RQTNER YHLFREDO PHSTORE j. QW

' ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 18, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT HAIR CURL-ER Application March 10, 1950, Serial'No. 148,992.

5'Claims, l.

The present invention relates to hair curlers of the well known type,. commonly called curling irons, in which the hairs of a lock to be curled are wound" around and held in snug contact with a heated element in the form of a rod or tube. Suchhaircurlers are sometimes referred to as curling tongs because they include a lever pivot.- all yconnected to-the heated element and biased for movement into engagement with the latter. In use, the free ends of the hairs in the lock to'be curled are clamped between the heated and clamping elements after which those elements arerotated about their own axis so that each hair is woundto form one or more convolutions. Inthe use of such a hair curler, the hair wound around the heated and clamping elements, is subjected to a heating action for the brief period, usually a few seconds only, required to give the convolutions a, definite tendency to retain their general ring shapes when the convolutions are loosened and separated from the curling iron.

The general object of the present invention is to provide a hair curler ofthe type specified which isa self contained unit including a fuel burningheater element, and which is inherently simple in construction and inexpensive to construct, and is-small enough to "be readily carried ina ladys handbag or coat pocket.

A further object of the invention is to provide the hair. curler of the character specified in which theqheater element is of the cigarette lighter type, and in practice the heater element included in our novel hair c-urlerunit may'well be a cigarette lighter-of a commercially available type.

The various features ofnovelty which characterize our invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a; part of thisspecification. For a better understanding of the invention, however, its advantages; and specific objects attained with its use, reference should be had to the accompanying drawing and descriptive matter in which we have illustrated and described preferred embodiments of" the invention.

2 hair curler comprises three separable metallic elements A, B and C preferably formally wholly or mainly of, thin, metal. The element A, is a cigarette lighter, advantageously of a commercially available type comprising a, hollow cylindrical body I enclosing a wick and fuel chamber, and having a. central uprising wick tube at its upper end and a. closure. 3. at. its lower end removable. topermit. said. chamber to be charged with a. suitable. liquid, combustible, or fluidfuel. The body I is formed with a longitudinal rib 4 extending radially away from one side of the body and supporting a. flint tube 5 at its free edge. The upperendof the tube 5 is open: to permit. the protrusion of the-upper end portion of a. flint 6. which. has itsbodyportion within the tube 5. The flint tube is. provided at its lower end with. a. closure 1 removable, for the insertion of flint. customarily the. flint tube encloses a helical compression. spring acting between the closure I and the flint in the tube.

The protruding end of theflint 6 engages the periphery of. an ignition disc 8. The latter is mounted for. rotation on a pivot!) having its ends supported in ears or'end extensions II] of a perforatedflange I I. The body portion ofthe flange I I is in the form of a cylinder segment ex;- tending through anxarc of 300 or so aroundthe axis of the cylinder I, and having its lower edge integrally connected tothe upper. end of the cylinder I. ThediscB has its-peripheral edge serrated and is so located relative to the wick tube 2 that when the'disc Bis rotated in a count'erclockwise direction as seen in Figure. l, the sparks formed pass'into contactwith the portion of the wick protruding through the'wick tube 2 and into the path ofi'fuel vapor escaping from the fuel 'chamber'through' the tube. Theupper edge of the flange II is a t..a level appreciably above the upper end of the wick tube, and forms an ignition space wall into which air can pass through the flange-perforations.

Except when fuel is'being burned. to heat the curling'iron, the upperend of the tube 2 iseffectively closed by a cup-like closure element I2. The latter is carried by; arms I3 which straddle the disc 8 and are mounted on the pivot 9. Gustomarily, the closure element I2 is spring biased for movement into its closing position andis so OFFICE: I

slot 24. slot 24 is sufficient. to permit the part E2 of the construction and operation of the ignition and extinguishing features of the element A are unnecessary as those features are not claimed as novel herein, but on the contrary, may be of Well known construction. For the purposes of the present invention however, the particular form of the cigarette lighter element A illustrated, is especially desirable because its lateral rib 4 and its perforated upper end extension llfacilitates its attachment to and separation from theelements B and C of our novel hair curler.

The unit B comprises a heater element 20 in the form of an open ended tube coaxial with the body I of the element A, and above and spaced away-from the upper end of the wick tube 2 as is shown in Fig. 1. The tubular heater element 20 is of a diameter substantially smaller than the 'bodyl and has its lower end integrally connected through a flange U to a slotted cylinder 22 adapted to surround and form a frictional connection with the curved portion of the flange II. The rate at which heat is transferred to tube 20 from th'ehot gases passing into the lower end of the tube from combustion space surrounded by. the slotted cylinder, 22 may be substantially increased by a copper wire helix 25 in the tube 20 and in snug engagement with the inner Wall of the latter. As shown the cylinder 22 is formed with a plurality of narrow elongated slots 23 parallel to the axis of the element B, and to a substantial wider slot 24 at one side of the body. The slots 22 are closed at each end but the slot 24 is closed at its upper end only. The fact that the slot 24 is open at its lower end coupled with thefact that the ear extension ID of the flange H are not rigidly connected, gives the parts II and 22 a certain flexibility. In consequence of that flexibility the frictional bond between the parts II and 22 in the assembled condition f the hair curler, may be amply strong to prevent accidental separation of the parts. without risk of objectionable interference with the ready separation of the elements A and B when such separation is desirable. In the assembled condition of the hair curler, shown in Fig. l, the lateral extensions ID of the-latter extend through the wide The length of the cylinder 22 and its element A to turn out of its flame extinguishing position, into the position shown in Fig. 1 in which it permits the ignition of the fuel passing out of the wick tube 2. The slots 23 of the cylinder.22 permit the passage of air into the space a The body portion of the element B is a cylinder '35 having a closed lower end 3| and a longitudinal slot at one side which extends from the closed lower end of the cylinder to its open upper end. The internal diameter of the cylinder 30 is that required to snugly receive the cylindrical body I of the burner element A with the rib 4 of that elementextending outwardly through the slot 32. Adjacent its upper end, the cylinder body 30 is provided with a pair of lateral projecting ears 33 connected by a pivot 34 on which a lever or tong element 33 is pivoted. The upper end portion 36 of the lever 33 serves as a clamp holding the free ends of the hairs to be curled between it and the hair heating tube 20 in each hair curling operation. In cross section, the clamping portion 35 is a circular are which in its normal position iscoaxial with the heater tube 20. The lever end 36 is biased by a spring 31 for movement into a position in which it engages the hair heating tube 20 or the hair ends between the parts 20 and 36. The cylinder 30 and the lower end portion of the lever 35 form the handles of the curling iron or tongs and when pressed together move the lever part 35 and the heater tube 20 apart.

The precise dimensions of our improved curling iron are not critical. However our curling iron is characterized by the fact that it is adapted to be made in small sizes. In practice, it may well have an overall length a little less than 5 inches and its heater tube 20 may well be about 1% inches long, with an outside diameter of about T 1; of an inch. As will be apparent, the elements A, B and C may be readily separated for inspection, cleaning and repair purposes, or to facilitate the packaging or storage of the device and to permit the use of the element A as a cigarette lighter.

In the normal operative condition of the curler shown in Fig. 1, the lever element 35 has its clamping portion 36 connected to the portion of the lever along side of the enlarged tubular part 22 of the element B by a transverse portion 38 above said tubular portion and in position to prevent separation of any of the elements A, B and C so long as the lever remains in the position to which it is biased.

The invention may take various forms. Thus for example, the lever 35 may be pivotally mounted on the enlarged lower portion of the element B, thus permitting the element C to be eliminated. Alternatively, the construction illustrated can be simplified and its production cost reduced, as shown in Fig. '7 by replacing the element C by the element CA in which the cylinder 30 of Figs. 1 and 3 is replaced by the part 30A. The part 30A differs from the part 30 essentially only in that it omits all the part 30 except a short upper end portion to which the ears 33 are attached. With the element C in the form shown in Fig. '7, its length is appreciably reduced and less storage space is required to hold the disassembled curling iron parts. The part CA is also adapted for use with little or no change in association with cigarette lighters quite different in form from the lighter shown herein. As will be apparent, the cigarette lighter A of the structure can be separated from the other elements of the curler and used for its customary tobacco igniting purposes whenever desirable.

For convenience of description, we have hereinbefore referred to the hair curler as it appears in its erect position shown in Fig. 1. In normal use, however, the curler is customarily held in various positions including a horizontal and inclined positions, and sometimes it may be directly inverted for brief operating periods.

While in accordance with the provisions of the statutes, we have illustrated and described the best forms of embodiment of our invention now known to us, it will be apparent tothose skilled in the art that changes may be made in the forms of the apparatus disclosed without departing from the spirit of our invention as comprising in combination, an open ended heating tube, a cigarette lighter including a body portion at one end of and detachably connected to said heating tube and enclosing a fuel and wick chamber, and having a wick tube for the extension therethrough from said chamber of a wick with the protruding end of the wick in position relative to said one end of said heating tube to maintain a flame between said wick tube and heatin tube, and to pass combustion gases thereby formed into said one end of said heating tube, a wick closure element-movable into and out of a closure position in which it substantially prevents the wick from Withdrawing fuel from said chamber, said heating tube being formed to accommodate movement of said closure element into and out of said position, and enclosing a flint channel with an open end and an ignition wheel mounted for rotation on said body with the peripheral edge of said wheel in position 'to engage a flint protruding from said channel through the open end of the latter, a clamping element, and means connecting said element to said structure for movement relative to said tube into and out of a position in which it is adapted to clamp end portions of hairs curled about said heating tube against the latter.

2. A curling iron as specified in claim 1, in which a wire coil of good heating conducting metal is mounted in, and is spring pressed against the inner Wall of said heating tube, and is operative to act as a transfer element to transfer heat from the combustion gases flowing through the heating tube to the latter.

3. A curling iron as specified in claim 1, in which said body portion and heating tube are telescopically connected to one another, and in which said structure comprises a casing open at its upper end and receiving a part of said body portion and in which said clamping member is pivotally connected to said casin and is spring biased for movement of a clamping portion into engagement with said tube and its offset relative to its handle portion and is connected to the latter .by a transversely extending portion which interlocks with the enlarged lower end portion of said tube to prevent the separation of said lighter from said heating tube While the latter is engaged by said clamping portion.

4. A curling iron, comprising in combination a cigarette lighter type heating element having a body portion formed with a fuel and wick chamber, and a wick tube at One end of said chamber, a flint channel with a flint outlet adjacent said wick tube, an ignition wheel rotatably mounted on said body with its edge in position to engage a flint extending through said outlet, hair heating means detachably connected to said body portion and comprising an open ended heating tube with an enlarged perforated tubular extension at one end forming a pervious wall for a combustion chamber into which said wick tube extends, a wick closure element movable into and out of a closure position in which it substantially prevents the wick from withdrawing fuel from said chamber, said heating tube being formed to accommodate movement of said closure element into and out 'of said position, a clamping element and means connecting said elements for movement of said clamping element into and out of position for clamping hairs against said heating tube.

5. A curling iron comprising in combination a cigarette lighter type heating element having a body portion formed with a fuel and wick chamber and with a wick tube at one end thereof, a longitudinal rib extending radially away from said said body and terminating at its free edge in a flint tube and an ignition wheel rotatably mounted on said body in proximity to said flint tube, and hair heatin means detachably connected to said body portion and comprising an open ended tube with an enlarged perforated tubular extension at one end forming a wall of a combustion chamber into which said wick tube extends, a cylinder snugly receiving said portion and formed with a slot through which said rib extends and a clamping element pivotally connected to said cylinder and movable into and out of position for clamping hairs against said tube.

\ EDITH RATNER.

ALFREDO PASTORE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 472,446 Fontaine Apr. 5, 1892 484,532 Gardner Oct. 18, 1892 547,863 Radford Oct. 15, 1895 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 9,584 Great Britain May 13, 1893 6,183 Sweden Oct. 10, 1894 

